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In a rare revolving-door moment down in the Motor Trend garage, the Evo X showed up for its one-year stay just as our long-term 2006 Evo IX MR was vacating the premises. And with the Evo X being so radically different from its predecessor, it only made sense to sample the two back to back.

Aside from the fresh, aggressive styling, the $38,965 Evo X MR features an entirely new aluminum-block 4B11 turbo four in place of the IX’s venerable iron-block 4G63, a softer, more road-friendly Bilstein suspension, and the brand-new TC-SST twin-clutch automatic transmission. And lest we forget, the X also includes such amenities and safety features as Bluetooth, Fast Key, steering wheel-mounted audio and cruise-control switches, and curtain airbags. We also had Mitsubishi throw in the $2550 Technology Package, which adds navigation, Sirius satellite radio, and a 650-watt nine-speaker Rockford-Fosgate audio system 10-inch subwoofer. Total price: a considerable $41,515, $4019 more than that of the Evo IX it replaced. Turns out, creature comforts don’t come cheap.

Staffers generally liked the X’s softer suspension. Editor at large Arthur St. Antoine logs, “I don’t notice that much — if any — handling loss, yet the driving experience is far more rewarding. The X turns in nicely, rolls over a bit, but hangs on fine. The roll actually allows you to feel the limit coming on sooner, allows you to work the car more.”

Senior editor Ron Kiino concurs: “The surgical steering is made for tight turns, its perfectly weighted feel allowing you to be ultra-precise when placing the front tires. The chassis balance is almost uncanny. The front end offers up so much grip and the rear (especially with the new Active Yaw Control) is so willing to rotate that it feels like oversteer is the name of the game. But in actuality both ends are sticking like syrup and working so beautifully together you can’t believe the car is devouring sweepers that effortlessly. Brakes? Awesome. Every turn you feel like you can dive deeper and deeper.”

Test numbers support their opinions. The X bested the IX in the skidpad maneuver (0.95 g versus 0.92), figure eight (25.6 seconds at 0.72 g versus 25.7 at 0.69 g and 60-0 braking (112 feet versus 115), though the 368-pounds-lighter IX proved faster in acceleration testing. That said, no one ever accused the Evo of being a drag racer.

As for the TC-SST gearbox, while there was initial skepticism, most of the staff eventually joined the “church of the SST,” as assistant Web producer Carlos Lago put it, though not without reservations, mainly complaints about it being jerky in traffic. As Kiino says, “The SST tranny is quite good. I had it in Sport mode for my little session in the switchbacks-perfect mode, by the way, as it always kept the engine right in the powerband (4000-6000 rpm). In Normal mode, the shifts are impressively quick and seamless, except at low speeds or in stop-and-go traffic, when they can be a bit abrupt. Overall, doesn’t feel quite as refined as the VW‘s DSG, but it’s pretty close.”

Lago notes “the transmission gets confused at stop signs, wanting to roll away in second then downshifting when it realizes the revs are too low.” Fellow assistant Web producer Scott Evans adds that, if you “put it in Super Sport Mode and drive it hard, the SST shifts almost instantly and is very fun to drive,” but “at parking lot and L.A. traffic speeds, it’s jerky and irritating, though you get used to it after a while. It feels like the guy inside the computer doing the shifting is either new at it and doesn’t know how to work the clutch smoothly yet, or he’s in a hurry and doesn’t care.” Evans’ assessment that “this car is best appreciated on windy roads at high speeds, not city traffic and mind-numbing commutes” echoes our staff’s opinions.

The Evo’s Recaros were almost universally lauded as comfortable as well as supportive: “Those seats…damn, Mitsu has been so wise to use Recaros in the Evos. They’re the best sports seats I’ve had the pleasure to sit in,” says Kiino, though the lack of a telescoping steering column made for an awkward seating position for my six-foot-four frame. Five-foot-ten Lago, on the other hand, found it a perfect fit.

Living with the Evo wasn’t cheap, however. The stock Yokohama Advan tires made way for a set of $808 Goodyear Eagle F1s at 12,000 miles, and total maintenance added up to $615.54 for four oil changes, inspections, and tire rotations plus an engine air filter replacement at 15,000 miles. Its mileage averaged 18.8 mpg, 0.1 mpg worse than the IX, and its economy-car 14.5-gallon tank meant it had to be filled up often, making it a less-than-ideal choice for a long-distance road trip.

In the end, despite some minor annoyances, the Evo X proved one of the most fun-to-drive and reliable cars in our long-term fleet. Though its sedan practicality was limited by the small gas tank, puny 6.9-cubic-foot trunk, and fixed rear seats (no hauling skis inside this all-wheel-driver), it was a great choice for a weekend getaway or a long summer evening when only a fun drive was in the cards.

From The Logbook

“This car is hilariously thirsty. Drive around with the trip computer on, and you can get real-time fuel economy along with a continuously adjusting average. It seems whenever the car is consuming less than 10 mpg, the readout goes blank, so as not to disturb the driver — roughly akin to a mother covering her child’s eyes during a violent movie scene: The kid knows it’s happening; he can hear it, but he just can’t see it.”– Rory Jurnecka

“The Evo MR comes down to one word: business. It’s what I thought when hugged by the Evo’s Recaros during my extended stay in the car. Everything from the exterior styling and rev-happy turbo-four, to the sparse, less than attractive interior and obvious Brembos, is down to it.” – Nate Martinez

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